Genesis 41:7 meaning summary explained with word-by-word analysis enriched with context, commentary and Cross References from KJV, NIV, ESV and NLT.
Genesis 41:7 kjv
And the seven thin ears devoured the seven rank and full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.
Genesis 41:7 nkjv
And the seven thin heads devoured the seven plump and full heads. So Pharaoh awoke, and indeed, it was a dream.
Genesis 41:7 niv
The thin heads of grain swallowed up the seven healthy, full heads. Then Pharaoh woke up; it had been a dream.
Genesis 41:7 esv
And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump, full ears. And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream.
Genesis 41:7 nlt
And these thin heads swallowed up the seven plump, well-formed heads! Then Pharaoh woke up again and realized it was a dream.
Genesis 41 7 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Gen 41:1 | And it came to pass at the end of two full years that Pharaoh dreamed... | Pharaoh's initial disturbing dream introduction. |
| Gen 41:22 | And I saw in my dream, and behold, seven ears of grain... | Pharaoh's recount of the second dream to Joseph. |
| Gen 41:26-27 | "The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good ears are seven years... The seven lean and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years, and also the seven empty ears blasted by the east wind are seven years of famine." | Joseph's direct divine interpretation of both dreams. |
| Gen 40:8 | "...Do not interpretations belong to God?..." | Joseph attributes the ability to interpret dreams to God. |
| Gen 45:5-7 | "...God sent me before you to preserve life." | Joseph explaining God's providential purpose for his being in Egypt amidst the famine. |
| Ps 105:16-17 | "...He called for a famine upon the land... He sent a man before them, Joseph..." | God's sovereignty over natural disasters and His pre-planning for His people. |
| Acts 7:11-12 | "Now there came a famine over all Egypt and Canaan... and our fathers found no food." | Stephen's historical recounting of the famine in Egypt and Canaan, fulfilling prophecy. |
| Amos 3:7 | "For the Lord GOD does nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets." | God reveals His future plans, often including warnings or events, to His chosen. |
| Dan 2:28-30 | "...there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries..." | Daniel attributes dream revelation and interpretation to God, like Joseph. |
| Dan 4:5-7 | Nebuchadnezzar's troubling dream and wise men's inability to interpret it. | Another example of a powerful king's dream uninterpretable by human wisdom, solved by divine insight. |
| Job 33:15-16 | "In a dream, in a vision of the night... He opens the ears of men..." | God's method of speaking to humanity through dreams for instruction or warning. |
| Num 12:6 | "...If there is a prophet among you, I, the LORD, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream." | God confirms His pattern of communication through dreams to prophets. |
| 1 Kgs 17:1 | "...there shall be neither dew nor rain these years..." | God's power to send or withhold rain, causing drought and famine. |
| Isa 46:10 | "Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things not yet done..." | God's absolute foreknowledge and sovereignty over future events. |
| Deut 28:15, 23 | "But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD... Your heavens which are over your head shall be bronze..." | Famine presented as a potential consequence for disobedience in a covenant context. |
| 2 Sam 21:1 | "Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD." | Famine as a divine judgment or disciplinary action for specific sin. |
| Joel 1:4 | "What the chewing locust has left, the swarming locust has eaten..." | Imagery of complete and successive consumption by destructive forces. |
| Lev 26:18-20 | "...I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron... and your strength shall be spent in vain..." | Consequences of disobedience, including unproductive land and famine-like conditions. |
| Matt 24:7 | "For nation will rise against nation... and there will be famines..." | Famines listed as one of the signs and realities leading up to the end times. |
| Rev 6:5-6 | "...a pair of scales in his hand... a quart of wheat for a denarius..." | Prophetic vision of severe famine and scarcity in the end times. |
| Zech 1:6 | "...Did not my words and my statutes... overtake your fathers?..." | Emphasizes that God's spoken words and warnings invariably come to pass. |
| Jer 29:11 | "For I know the plans I have for you... plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." | God's overarching purpose of hope and a future even amidst trials like famine, for His people. |
Genesis 41 verses
Genesis 41 7 meaning
This verse concludes Pharaoh's second prophetic dream, specifically about the ears of grain, reinforcing and intensifying the message of the first dream concerning the cattle. It portrays seven scrawny and parched ears of grain completely consuming the seven plump and full ears, signifying that a severe seven-year famine would entirely obliterate the memory and benefits of seven years of unparalleled abundance in Egypt. Pharaoh's awakening emphasizes the powerful, unsettling, and divinely significant nature of this vivid nocturnal experience, indicating it was more than an ordinary dream.
Genesis 41 7 Context
Genesis 41:7 concludes the second part of Pharaoh’s disturbing prophetic dream. The preceding verses (Gen 41:1-6) detail Pharaoh’s initial dream of seven healthy cattle being devoured by seven emaciated cattle, followed by a parallel dream concerning seven full ears of grain, succeeded by seven withered ones. The repetition of the central message—abundance consumed by desolation—underscores its critical significance and divine origin. This vivid experience deeply troubled Pharaoh, and none of his wise men or magicians could provide an interpretation, highlighting the limitations of human wisdom. This event, occurring two full years after Joseph's imprisonment and forgotten act of interpreting the cupbearer's dream, directly sets the stage for Joseph's divinely orchestrated release and his crucial role in God's redemptive plan for His people.
Genesis 41 7 Word analysis
- And the thin ears: Hebrew: v'ha'shibbalim hadaqqot (וְהַשִּׁבֳּלִים הַדַּקּוֹת).
- shibbalim (שִׁבֳּלִים): "ears of grain." These are the productive heads of cereal crops (e.g., wheat, barley) and fundamentally represent sustenance and agricultural prosperity. The imagery connects directly to Egypt's lifeline, the Nile's annual floods, and the success of its harvest.
- daqqot (דַּקּוֹת): "thin, meager, withered, scrawny." This adjective describes a state of severe emaciation or deterioration, implying unproductive growth and widespread crop failure, directly indicating widespread famine and desolation.
- devoured: Hebrew: tibla' (תִּבְלַע) from the root bala' (בָּלַע).
- Meaning: To swallow, engulf, absorb, consume completely. This powerful verb conveys more than just eating; it implies a total assimilation or obliteration, where the consumer leaves no trace or memory of what was consumed. In this context, it vividly signifies that the coming famine would not merely deplete but would utterly consume, making the preceding years of abundance forgotten and nullified in their beneficial effects. This emphasizes the extreme severity of the prophetic event.
- the seven plump and full ears: Hebrew: et sheva' ha'shibbalim ha'bre'ot v'ha'mle'ot (אֶת שֶׁבַע הַשִּׁבֳּלִים הַבְּרִאוֹת וְהַמְּלֵאוֹת).
- sheva' (שֶׁבַע): "seven." The recurrence of "seven" (used for cows and ears, good and bad) points to a complete, set period of time—seven years of prosperity followed by seven years of hardship—signifying divinely ordained fullness and completion for the prophetic events.
- bre'ot (בְּרִאוֹת): "healthy, well-fed, robust." Refers to vibrant growth and productivity, denoting a period of exceptional abundance and fertility.
- mle'ot (מְלֵאוֹת): "full, laden, complete." Signifies overflowing bounty and a complete, plentiful harvest, underscoring the richness and plenitude of the seven good years.
- And Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream:
- Pharaoh's awakening signifies that the dream was vivid, deeply disturbing, and left a powerful, indelible impression upon him, confirming its extraordinary, rather than ordinary, nature. It highlights that the dream was a divinely imposed experience, setting the stage for the search for an interpretation that only God could provide. The repetition of the dream and his profound unease served as God's imperative call to action.
Genesis 41 7 Bonus section
The powerful imagery in Pharaoh's dreams, where the weaker consumes the stronger, is counter-intuitive from a natural perspective and therefore points distinctly to supernatural intervention. This serves as a key indicator of divine revelation, separating these dreams from common nocturnal experiences. The double dream (cows and grain) reinforces the message not just in a human memory context, but also signifies a definitive and imminent fulfillment—what God reveals twice, He intends to bring about swiftly (Gen 41:32). This foreshadows God's meticulously orchestrated plan to not only warn Egypt but also to position Joseph as His chosen instrument of preservation, directly leading to the relocation of the nascent Israelite nation to Egypt and thus fulfilling Abrahamic covenant promises through a roundabout but divinely guided path.
Genesis 41 7 Commentary
Genesis 41:7 climactically concludes Pharaoh's prophetic dreams, providing a stark, divinely ordained image of economic and existential devastation. The symbolism of "thin ears" completely "devouring" "plump and full" ones is not merely of scarcity, but of complete eradication—the future famine would not just deplete but would fully consume and erase the benefits of previous years of abundance, making the fat years forgotten. This dramatic depiction underscores the severity and certainty of the impending event. God's act of repeatedly disturbing the world's most powerful ruler with dreams his wise men could not decipher served to demonstrate His absolute sovereignty over all nations and events, highlighting that true wisdom and foreknowledge reside with Him alone. This crucial, troubling dream necessitated Joseph's divine insight, ensuring the preservation of life in Egypt and preparing the way for the future salvation of Jacob's family through God's providentially appointed servant.